News 09:00

BULLETIN 12 November 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The government welcomes the improvement in South Africa’s unemployment rate
# ActionSA welcomes the suspension of the deputy chief of the Ekurhuleni Metro Police
# And US flight cancellations and delays could get worse

# Government has welcomed the third Quarterly Labour Force Survey results for 2025. South Africa’s unemployment rate has decreased by 1.3 percentage points in the third quarter of the year, moving to 31.9-percent from 33.2-percent in the second quarter. According to the survey, there was an increase of 248-thousand in the number of employed persons to 17.1-million. Government deputy spokesperson, William Baloyi, says these figures are positive for the economy:

Meanwhile, minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, says he is encouraged that the construction sector is starting to play its role to meaningfully provide jobs and opportunities for South Africans. According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, 130-thousand new jobs were created in the construction sector in the third quarter of 2025. This represents nearly half of the new jobs created in the country. Macpherson says that with the reforms they are implementing with the South African Construction Action Plan, the industry will contribute even more towards job creation.

# ActionSA has welcomed the suspension of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi. He has been implicated in the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, with claims emerging that he aided criminal Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala’s infiltration of the EMPD. He is accused of entering into fraudulent memoranda of understanding with Matlala’s security company. ActionSA’s Tumelo Tshabalala says the Madlanga Commission continues to validate its long-standing fight against rampant corruption in the metro:

# US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says flight disruptions could worsen considerably, and airlines could ground planes if the government stays closed. The Federal Aviation Administration mandated cuts to flights rose to six-percent yesterday at 40 of the country’s major airports, resulting in over one-thousand-200 flights cancelled. The Senate passed the short-term funding bill on Monday to reopen the government, but the bill still needs to clear the House of Representatives. Duffy says by tomorrow, eight-percent of flights will be cut:

# Tennis: World number one Carlos Alcaraz has made it two wins from two at the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. The Spaniard defeated American Taylor Fritz, 6-7, 7-5, 6-3. Alcaraz will seal the year-end world number one ranking and a place in the semifinals with victory over Italian Lorenzo Musetti tomorrow. Rival Jannik Sinner must defend his title and hope Alcaraz loses to Musetti, and does not reach the final to claim the top ranking. Musetti outlasted Australia’s Alex de Minaur, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-16-cents and the euro at 19-rand-86-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-53-cents and Bitcoin trades at 103-thousand-240-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-109-dollars-66-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-80-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….